What Once Was
by Greenx92
Summary: An imaginative look at Kamijou's past, we look at the early relationship between Shoukuhou Misaki and Kamijou Touma in elementary school...and a little bit after that.
1. Hello

"Hello there!"

"Huh?"

It was a partially cloudy in Academy City. The weather wasn't bad, really, since there was a lot of sunshine too. A perfectly normal day.

A normal day like any other.

"A-are you talking to me?" the little boy with spiky hair said.

"That's right, I am!" the blonde girl said cheerfully. Maybe a little too cheerfully. "I've come to you to ask you how is it that you stopped my ability?"

"Ability?"

Following a natural reaction, the boy was going to look at his right hand. Ever since coming to Academy City, he had to answer the question of how he negated someone's power. After years of it, his mind was conditioned to look at his hand after being asked that question. This time was different as his head was laying on his hand. The 5th grader realized he was laying on the grass, next to some mud, and picked himself up.

"What happened? I was playing in the sandbox. Why am I over here now?"

"Sorry," she said with a smile that expressed otherwise. "I made a bet with a friend that I could make you eat mud using my mind control ability."

"What!? Augh, gross!"

The twelve-year-old started spitting at the ground like mad before he pulled his shirt over his mouth and started scrubbing his tongue with the tough fabric.

"Now, now, take it easy." She grabbed his shirt with her white gloves and gently pulled it back down. "You didn't eat any. I lost my chocolate milk if you don't believe me." She didn't seem to happy about losing her favorite dairy product. "Your foot landed in a small pit covered in grass and you fell."

"So that's why I was on the ground," the boy said before he muttered, "Rotten Luck." This was before he realized he had zero luck and had to change his catchphrase into "such misfortune".

The shining girl smiled. "Ah, I see. This bad luck ability of yours made you fall and somehow break you out of my mind control power."

"Bad luck ability?" he repeated. "I guess that is kind of what it is." He brought his right hand in front of him and the girl. "My right hand has the power to make other people's powers stop working."

"Oh, so it's really a bad luck power?"

"Uh-huh?"

"And as long as your hand doesn't touch your head, I can control it?"

Remembering that she was trying to make him eat mud, he loudly shouted, "No! You can't control my head!"

"Fine," she said, mildly disappointed. "You're a bit of a wild card anyway if you can stop my power. I suppose I can just use those girls over there."

With just as much, if not more, power in his voice, the boy repeatedly shouted, "No! You can't control other people's head either!"

"Hm, really? Why not?" Her delicate voice had gained a tone filled with curiosity and interest. Something about his passionate plea was reeling her in to him.

"Because it's not nice!"

(Oh, is that it?) she thought? (For his sake, I hope not.) She glanced at the mud before the boy continued.

"You shouldn't use people for no good reason. To me, a bad guy is someone who doesn't care about others. They're the type of person that uses others. If you're controlling people to help yourself and no one else, I think you're a bad guy!"

He pointed his dirty finger at her, much to her great surprise. "I'm not a bad guy! I'm don't even fit the guy part!" she shouted.

An electronic bell rang, signifying the end of recess. Soon the playground would be empty and all of the children would be learning in their classrooms.

"It's time to go," the boy said.

Kids were passing him and the girl and were not at all interested with them.

"Just promise me you won't use your power for bad reasons, okay?"

"And if I don't?"

"I'll stop you," the boy sternly said.

He joined the crowds of kids going to their classes and was out of the girl's sight.

The girl had only spoken with him for a few minutes, yet she had already grown an undying interest in him and was already wanting to see him more.

"He's very different from everyone else," she concluded.

"Hey, are you talking to yourself?"

"Eh!?"

Almost of the kids were gone, leaving the lazy and irresponsible kids left to go in. One of these kids was a boy who noticed the girl talking to herself.

"I was not talking to myself!"

"Yeah you were! I just heard you!"

"Nuh-uh!" she protested. "Take this!"

She erased the last 10.4 seconds of the boy's memory and quickly walked away to class while suspiciously whistling the theme song of "Who's the Boss?".

* * *

**Author's Note**

*cough* Yeah, just ignore that last part. I have a bit too much fun than I should.

I was originally going to give this story the totally original name "Misaki and Touma," but that would imply I ship something. It's more accurate to say that I am hugely intrigued by this shipping. I'm sure most will agree, especially after seeing dat smile, but enough about that. I'll say more later on.

This will be a short fic. I don't expect to go over 20,000 words when it's completed in about a month. Much more reliable to handle than my other...ambitious stories.


	2. Pester

It had been three days since that girl spoke to him. Most kids would forget about who they spoke to three days ago. It would be like trying to remember the cashier who charged you yesterday. The girl, however, was memorable to the boy. He wasn't forgetting her too easily. It would be like trying to forget the cashier who tried to rob you last year.

These past days, the boy has been feeling strange. Every day at school, his shoulders felt cold. Not literally, but like it was telling him something. Today he realized what that feeling was: The feeling he was being watched.

(She's been watching me,) he told himself, (and I'm going to find her.)

He was sitting on top of the school's slide and scrutinized the whole playground to catch anyone looking at him in a playful manner.

"Hey, quit hogging the slide!"

"Yeah! Get off!"

He chose the slide instead of the monkey bars because he felt safe from his misfortune here. If he fell, at least he would slide down to the ground. Also because he predicted kids would try to take him down from his posts.

"Have a little patience, everyone," he demanded. "I'm looking for someone."

Kids being kids, no one had any patience. They wanted to take him down now.

"Let's push him down!"

"No!" a grouchy boy said. "That would be too fun. Let's shake him off!"

(What?)

He grabbed onto the handles and held on to dear life as the kids gathered around the slide and attacked it. One side would rise then fall, the other side would rise higher then fall, and the process was repeated to the point the slide fell over and slammed the boy to the ground.

"Hooray!" they all cheered.

They put the slide back up and dragged the boy away from them.

"Rotten luck."

"My, your redundancy ability truly is amazing. This is the seventeenth time I've heard you mutter that phrase. At this rate, you'll overpower my tolerating power."

The boy, instantly recognizing the voice, jumped up and off the ground, and exclaimed. "Ha! I've found you!"

The girl tilted her head and feigned confusion. "You found me? Did I leave that big of an impression on you that you just had to see me once more?"

"Huh? No! That's not it at all! These last few days, I've sensed somebody watching me and the only person that can do that is you and your mind control powers."

She disregarded parts of what he said. "I'm the only person you've been thinking of? And you've been seeing my face on other people? Forgive me, but I don't think I can handle this much level of passions at such a young age."

His face was turning pink and he was becoming very flustered at what she was saying. "It's not like that! It's you! You've been watching me!"

"Hm? Now why would I do that? I'll have you know that stalking powers aren't my trade."

His face was heating up and he had no idea how to cool himself down. Although he was sure the girl had been watching him, he could not come up with a single reason as to why she would do so. She seemed to belong to a much higher social class, far beyond he could even reach even with a million lottery tickets because luck would make his chances of winning zero. She did not even look like she went to the same school as him.

"Hey," he said upon realizing something, "why are you even here? You look to rich and relaxed to be in a school like this."

"Oh, now you're complimenting me? But a rather weak attack, don't you think? You need more experience points to improve your charming ability."

"That's not what I mean."

He was losing his fluster and was becoming serious. She saw this and frowned.

"Fine. I can see you're going to stop making this fun for me."

She gave him a casual wink, which caught him off guard.

"I am Shokuhou Misaki, Academy City's most pure-hearted esper. Nice to meet you."

"Most pure-hearted esper? I refuse to believe that."

"Well, it's the most pleasant thing I can say until I become the next Level 5 esper."

Level 5s in Academy City were a thing like black holes that everyone has heard of, but almost no one has seen. Their destructive and power beyond compare were thought to be exaggerations few believed because of how scary it was to believe such things were possible. No one wanted to know there were espers out there that could throw buildings or empty oceans.

Only three Level 5s were confirmed to exist, so to hear someone claim they would be the next Level 5 elicited reactions not unlike the ones you make when you hear your friend claim to become the next pope.

"L-level 5? There's no way you can become a Level 5! What level are you?"

"Level 3 psychological control," she stated almost immediately. "As the name implies, it lets me control minds as if they were TVs and I was the remote control. Right now, my powers limit me to weak-minded and uncertain people. Lucky for me, however, there is a scientist working closely to me that is very unhappy of the life she leads and that is where I heard of my eventual power-up. Astonished, aren't you? Yes, hard to believe a third grader is full of so much potential."

Now he was truly astonished.

"Third grader!?"

She shrugged it off. "Or fourth. Whatever I'd like people to believe. With my power, I can change these TVs to the channel I want, one at a single time, if I desired to do so. I am content at being in third though."

The boy figured he had enough of this girl and her casual comments and just wanted to leave now.

"I think recess should be over soon," he said aloud. "I think I'll go wait in class for the remainder of the time. I'll see you later okay?"

He faced away from her and was going to walk to class.

"Well, that's very impolite. Your rudeness powers really hurt me, I'll have you know."

Quickly, he defended himself. "I-I'm not being rude! I just want to wait in class and maybe study. I'm starting to fall behind in class now, especially since we're starting to talk about esper abilities."

"That's not what I meant," she said. "I was referring to your lacking ability. I properly introduced myself, yet I have not heard any such thing coming from you to me."

"Huh? Oh, well, I guess that's true. But shouldn't you have heard my name from my mind or someone else's?"

"From you to me," she repeated softly.

He gulped and acquiesced. "My name is Kamijou Touma, Academy City's nobody. I am a Level 0 misfortune magnet."

She smiled and waved her hand as if she was pushing him away. "You may leave now."

Kamijou nodded and left to class, walking at a very fast pace.

Shokuhou's eye sparkled and she headed to the opposite direction.

The slide, while laying down helplessly on the ground, cried and hoped the kids would stop saying it is more fun to play on the slide this way.

* * *

**Author's Note**

That slide scene always gets to me...like if u crie evry time!

Anyway, hoorah! Another update! Although, at this 4 a day update rate I'm going at, this story should actually last _two _months. I suppose I should pick up the pace, but why should I?

The line of thinking I'm going with on her power and who she can control goes with willpower. A Level 3 can control the weak-minded and unsure people. A Level 4 can control almost everyone except the most stubborn and determined. This info has nothing to do with the story except on a super subtle level near the end.

I remember I had a crush in 3rd grade. I liked her until one day in music class. For the third day in a row, we were starting out class with the "Dinosaur Song" and I muttered, "Not the stupid dinosaur song again." She somehow overheard from three seats away and told the teacher on me. I wasn't punished or anything, but it still made very annoyed at her. She moved away the next year and I couldn't have cared less.


	3. Lunch

It had been a week since the last encounter between a boy named Kamijou Touma and a girl named Shokuhou Misaki.

Kamijou stopped being paranoid three days ago when he decided whatever happens, happens.

Today, he was swinging by himself on the swingset (of course), when suddenly a classmate of his, a girl in a pink dress, appeared next to him and scared him off his seat.

"Wah! Don't scare me like that...you!"

He did not know this person, or at least he didn't think so. He felt like this person should be familiar, and that's when he realized her eyes. They were cold and lifeless and staring directly at him. They were so voided, they caused him to not recognize his classmate.

"C-can I help you?" he asked.

The girl didn't say a word, but nodded to say she did.

He didn't expect a normal answer, knowing very well who could possibly be behind this odd meeting between classmates, so he wasn't surprised or scared.

"What is it that you want then?"

She continued to not say anything. Instead, she pulled out an envelope. It had a nice fragrance accompanying it, along with a ribbon tied around the corner, and a red sticker with a gold outline keeping it closed.

The sight and subtle smell of the envelope made his head shrink.

(Guh, how much did it cost to make this?)

His thoughts didn't quite match his feelings. Although he was genuinely surprised with the quality of the envelope, it did brighten his day. He felt like a peasant receiving a gift from the queen of the kingdom herself.

He took the letter from the classmate's hand.

"Ung? What happened?"

The lifeless eyes of the girl in pink returned from the dead and she looked like she was capable of emotions again.

Unfortunately for Kamijou, this girl was fired up.

"You!"

"Me?"

"I remember now. You jerk!"

"Ah!"

She slapped him and promptly left. Honestly, she didn't remember what happened, but felt satisfied nonetheless.

"Rotten luck," he mumbled.

He looked at the envelope and felt much worse about it this time.

(Let's just hope this isn't a declaration of war. Oh, even the letter inside is fancy. Since when did so much work have to be put into letters?)

The page had a relaxing pink color instead of the usual white of the professional businessman to express feminine subtext. The page also showed no signs of having ever been folded, thanks to the technology of Academy City's expensive paper products. The font for the text was thin, but nothing extravagant.

The letter read as such:

Dear Kamijou-san,

The days have been becoming warmer, don't you think so? How have you been? Hungry, I hope! I have prepared a small picnic at a park nearby. Lunch should be in a few minutes now. Please come over and eat with me, won't you. Or don't, but keep in mind that I don't appreciate the idea of being stood up. I might have your teacher come and eat with me. Maybe we'll discuss your progress in school?

At the bottom of the letter were directions to her location. Kamijou, not willing to let his teacher anywhere near this girl, begrudgingly followed them and arrived to the site.

* * *

Over by a small lake was the girl. She was sitting at a round table with parasol attached to the middle.

"Oh! You made it! Take a seat."

He was unwilling at first, but his mind changed once he saw the food on the table.

It wasn't a whole lot of food, but this was a case where quality beat up and killed quality.

(Even the bread looks mouthwatering! They look even softer then my pillows! No, wait, this isn't the time for that.)

He withheld from sitting down on the table first and cut to the chase.

"What's all this for?"

"Are your first thoughts always so cynical? I invite you to eat lunch with me, and the first thing you do is treat me as cold as the sushi over by the tea."

"It's hard to treat you nicely when you made your messenger slap me."

Thinking about the slap made his cheeks burn and he felt like he would have to start rubbing the pain away again.

"The slap was in case you forgot my name. I'd be happy to apologize if you prove my predicting powers wrong."

Little Kamijou stared at her and gulped as he realized he truly did forget her name.

She pouted and gazed away from him.

"I see. My charming ability wasn't enough to make an impact on you. Should I be trying harder then?"

The thought of her giving more effort than right now scared him and he blurted out, "Please don't!"

"Why not? I gave you my name and title and it meant nothing to you."

"That's not true," he said unconfidently. "I, uh, remember the part where you called yourself Academy City's most pure-hearted esper."

"Do you believe it?"

"I don't think I can. There's a good chance your lying."

"But how is that possible? I'm as pure they get," she said.

"What? No. If you're lying, that means you're not pure."

"But I'm not lying. I'm stating a fact; A fact you can believe."

"I refuse," he flat out said, "because you're lying."

"Your stubborness ability is really annoying now. Ah! How about I demonstrate my nonexistant lying powers to you?" she said.

"I don't see how you can."

She smiled and gave him a certain look full of confidence and playfulness. He only felt it for a moment, but a piece of him melted. Of course, he'd never admit it.

She flipped her hair, adjusted her head, and quietly cleared her throat. Having done so much preparation, Kamijou wondered if she was going to do a back flip for the sake of the demonstration.

She got up on her seat and closed her eyes as she said, "I am not the purest girl in Academy City."

A bird flapped its wings and a boy blinked his eyes.

"...is that...is that it? How does that prove you're not a liar?"

She opened her eyes and grinned. "It's simple really: If that statement is false, then that means I really am the pure girl you doubted existed."

He lost his breath and almost fell over from that response.

"That doesn't mean anything! Of course you not the most pure-hearted esper here!"

"Is that right? But then that would mean I have told the truth of my impurity. The fact I have told the truth, however, continues the fact I've never lied, thus proving that I really am the purest of the pure!"

This time, he felt the Earth under him shake.

"Huh!? What?! How!? You can't be serious!? No, I can't believe it! I don't even-!"

He blathered on until he decided to outright stop thinking to give his mind a break. He didn't think it was worth opposing her anymore. He clearly didn't have the wits to enter a battle against her. She didn't use her powers to break his mind.

He quietly went over to the table and plopped down onto a seat.

"Can stupid Kamijou ask for your name?"

She sat back down and told him, "Shokuhou Misaki."

He nodded and looked at the food.

"So...what are we having?"

"A small serving of fried fish," she said.

"That's nice."

He sounded distraught and tired. It wouldn't be a stretch to say he absolutely did not want to be here.

As the host, she did not feel very good about this attitude.

"Do you find me annoying," she said in a low voice.

"Huh?"

He looked over to Shokuhou and saw a frown unlike the playful pouts she gave. This one was genuine.

No matter who the person was, Kamijou did not enjoy feeling the sadness emanating from others. Naturally, he wanted to stop this bad aura and he denied anything.

"N-no! Of course not!"

"Then what do you think of me?"

He truly didn't find her annoying, yet that did not help him pinpoint the feeling he got being with her.

"Is it my power that makes you uncomfortable with me?" she said.

He wasn't sure if 'uncomfortable' was the word for it, but she was right about her power.

She saw his eyes move slightly, to whiich she took as a yes, much to her dismay.

She sighed and her frown increased. "It's not like I chose to have this power. No one chooses their powers. I just happen to get the one everyone is the most afraid of.

"Sometimes I'll see other espers use their power. They'll make things disappear, have things melt, or even make it rain. No one is afraid of that sort of thing here, unless they're being attacked. With me, every little thing I do is an attack. Everyone else is allowed to have a little fun with their powers, but not poor little Misaki."

She reached for her tea and took a small sip.

"For a little bit, I tried to make everyone understand that the most I would do is have a little mischief, but that wasn't allowed. A lot of people stopped trusting me, and I stopped trusting them because..."

She took another drink and pushed the glass away from her.

"In the end, I just stopped telling people and made my power a secret, for the most part."

"So how is it that I know?" he asked.

She didn't say anything, but took a look at his right hand. He saw her looking at it.

"My right hand? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Remember when we first met? Your hand's negating ability stopped my powers and you were back in control of yourself. I've gotten to the point where if people know what I can do, they stop trusting me, and if, for whatever reason, I can't use my powers on them, I stop trusting them."

She shifted away from her spot on the table and moved closer to him.

His heartbeat's rate increased because he was afraid of what point she was trying to make, mixed in with some other feelings he didn't quite understand.

She grabbed his right hand and placed it on his head.

"With you, however, there's a middle line, isn't there? I can and cannot use my powers on you."

"Ah."

He was now easing into her line of logic. As his mind was doing so, he began to make a horrible realization and hated himself for treating her the way he had.

"You see, I was thinking that since you can stop my power by having your hand on your head like this, you'll hopefully realize that my company isn't as dangerous as you would think and maybe be my...my fr-r-r..."

She didn't want to say that last word. Saying it would have made her feel so alone, dropping her off a cliff into a hole she knew existed, but did not want to acknowledge.

"Of course I'll be your friend."

"Uhn?"

She was given an ability she did not ask for. People around her did not like her for that power. She was alone and if she wasn't, people treated her badly. It sounded familiar to him because he essentially went through a similar experience.

"I'll be your friend, but if I see you do anything bad, it's over," he said.

Unlike her experience, however, the issue of trust was different and he would have to be cautious.

She looked at him for a bit before giving him a warm smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

When Kamijou returned to class, he was immediately ambushed by his classmate, the girl in the pink dress.

"Kamijou-chan! Where have you been? I've been wanting to apologize for slapping you!"

The teacher overheard the voice and immediately took action.

"You again? How many times do I have to tell you to leave my student alone!? You're a teacher, so go back to your school and never bother us again!"

"Wah!"

The elementary school teacher grabbed a broom and swatted the alleged high school teacher three times before she ran back to the high school class she taught at.

(What a weird girl,) Kamijou thought.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ugh, I was going to write this after the NT8 was fully translated, but I got sick with bronchitis and I'm just getting better now.

You don't know how corny I felt when I wrote done that friend line. I don't know why, but the "I'll be your friend" line is the line I hate the most. Still, I had to make it for the sake of whatever. Hopefully I did a good interpretation of Misaki and her vague thoughts about trust. I feel it kinda fits with her relationship between Misaka and Dolly.

This chapter went on longer than expected, especially with the liar's paradox scene. It's a bit tiring to write so much at one time.

So, uh, on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z, Touma and Misaki have a play date or something. Play a little game of UNO maybe? But not Jenga, especially Tetris Jenga. That's the worst type of Jenga to play.

Komoe is a little moe, don't you think?


End file.
